News Details

Public Invited to School Grant Workshop May 19

$5 million to address air quality needs; applications available

April 20, 2010

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has launched the first round of Port Grant Programs designed to address community health impacts from port-related air and noise pollution. These grants, tapping a $5 million fund, will be aimed at schools and related sites, such as day-care centers.

The "schools and related sites" grant program is one of three Port Grant Programs designated for funding last year by the Harbor Commission. The final workshop will be:

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, at the Port of Long Beach Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach 90802.Click here for directions.

The deadline for grant applications is June 14.

For more information, as well as updates and application forms, call the Grant Hotline at 1-888-789-4726, e-mail grants@polb.com or go to the Port Grant Programs website at: www.polb.com/grants.

"While we continue to work very hard to address Port-related air pollution at the various sources, these grants give us additional ways to minimize the overall environmental impact of goods movement on the community," said Nick Sramek, President of the Board of Harbor Commissioners. “These grants are designed to help those in our community who are the most vulnerable to the health risks from pollution.”

The Port Grant Programs were established in 2009 to address the cumulative environmental impacts from redevelopment and modernization projects at the Port of Long Beach. After the approval of the Port's Middle Harbor Redevelopment project also in 2009, the Harbor Commission agreed to set aside $15 million for the Port Grant Programs to be divided evenly among the programs for schools and related sites, health-care and senior facilities, and a third for greenhouse gas reduction.

With the approval by the Harbor Commission of the grant program guidelines and schedule, the schools and related sites program becomes the first of the Port Grant Programs to move forward. Next, the Port expects to move forward with the health-care and senior facilities program. And then the greenhouse gas program.

Once the proposals have been submitted, a five-member advisory committee consisting of three community members appointed by the Long Beach mayor, a representative of industry and a representative of regulatory agencies, will review the requests and make recommendations to Port staff. Port staff will then make recommendations for funding to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, which will make the final decisions on the grants.